Suitability of International MBA vs Indian MBA for Indians

Hi all, For long, I have been having this confusion with the suitability of a Foreign MBA vs an Indian MBA vis-a-vis my career aspirations. Now, (having worked in IT sector for seven years) my career aspirations are to know about the different f…

Hi all,
For long, I have been having this confusion with the suitability of a Foreign MBA vs an Indian MBA vis-a-vis my career aspirations. Now, (having worked in IT sector for seven years) my career aspirations are to know about the different facets of business (Accounting, Economics, Company Law, Organisational Behaviour et al) and not just getting a job. With that in mind, I am not sure if an Foreign MBA will suit me. Let me explain further.
Recently, I purchased a book on Investments to know more abt the world of Investing. Although, this book is a bestseller in its area, the subjects and the examples quoted are all from USA (for instance, the different exchanges in USA, different investment avenue that are available in USA etc., mainly because the author and the publisher were americans) which means that I needed to again translate and try to understand their equivalents in Indian scenario.
Then, with some retrospection, I feel that the different subjects taught in MBA are also similar in nature wherein they might differ between different countries and then country where we are studying might be quoted more in teaching, which might not help if I stay in India.
So, I have come to believe that doing an Indian MBA is better because of the localized teaching which I think will benefit me, considering that I want to settle down in India. Once I become a master in local areas, then it would be easy for me to understand any other market and its local business tenets.
Am I correct?
P.S. By the way, I am not including the ivy league schools like H/W/S/LBS.... in which I am not sure cant get in even if I stand upside down. I am trying to compare between the rank 11-50 in US vs rank 5-15 (IIMs being equally tough to get inside) in India.

Hi all,

The MBA degree unlike an Masters degree in Science/Technology is not a classroom oriented degree. An MBA degree involves learning from your fellow MBA participants as much as from the faculty. The amount of learning you can get from your classmates is huge. Most of the course work is done in groups. Now how does all this affect the discussion about Indian v Foreign MBA.
The more experienced the other participants of the MBA program the better will be your experience. Normally, in most Indian MBA programs (except IIM A/B/C and ISB) the overwhelming majority of students are fresh out of college. A person like you with 7 years of work experience will hardly get any learning from your classmates fresh out of college. Most of your classmates would be looking for their FIRST :wow: job post MBA.

Another facet of MBA programs in India is that a large % of students are coming from a similar background (engineering, science, working in IT etc).
So a group work will unlikely have different perspectives from different group members.

Now consider a foriegn MBA from a top tier school. Most students would have 3-4 years some even more work exp. They come from a variety of backgrounds like finance, high-tech, marketing and some from fields like poetry, television, films and other artistic fields. A vast variety of students come from different countries. Just imagine the breadth of discussions in classroom and in group-work when in your group you will have a American journalist, an British banker, a Turkish entreprenuer and you an Indian IT guy. You would be working with such a group for possibly entire semesters. Also look at the network you would develop from just your colleagues in a vast number of countries. So when the Turkish fellow wants to expand his business into India then he may well contact you.

Contrast this with an group in an Indian MBA class, where there will possibly be another IT fella with 1 year exp, and a couple of freshers with zero business exp. What kind of learning would you expect from them?
The diversity of student body and opinion is one of the biggest plusses in a foreign MBA.

You say that an US MBA may teach you specific to US business. But this is not law which is different in different countries. This is facets of business, which is more or less similar across different countries.
Your argument (of learning a less US based learning) can be solved by not doing a 2nd tier Indian MBA, but by specializing in international business or going to a more international MBA like INSEAD or IMD where the diversity is even more.

You said "Once I become a master in local areas, then it would be easy for me to understand any other market and its local business tenets. ". Not so easy. Learning global markets and then applying it to local scenarios is much easier, not the other way around.

With 7 years of work exp, you should NOT think of an MBA from Indian (outside of ISB or the 1 yr course at IIMA).
Of course a foreign MBA has a few drawbacks.
getting jobs is not as easy (but with 7 years of work exp you should now a thing or two about job-hunting).
It's costly, but working abroad for a few years it's easier to pay back loans.
It could be difficult if you are married. But you must decide whether career comes first or family??

In your case it should be either a top MBA from US/Europe (or ISB) or forget about full-time MBA and do a executive MBA while working.

These are my random thoughts. Agree or Disagree as you wish

BTW, Stanford and LBS are not Ivy
Ivy is purely for undergrad (not MBA)
Ivy= Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Darthmouth, Cornell, Columbia, UPenn


Regards

Senapati,
Thank you for your inputs. My situation is kinda peculiar. See my MBA application will have one handicap when it comes to the "community initiatives" section which I understand is a prerequisite for most of the international B-schools..
Infact, I used to play volleyball in my school times and in my free time, I spend time in reading fiction novels... So, there ends my "extracurricural" story.

And to add pain to the agony, I am an Indian IT male aged 28...
I am more of an acad guy and as you can see, when it comes to differentiating my application from the rest of the world, my application will first go to the Bin.
That is one of the main reasons why I think I will get dinged in any good (top 1-20) international B school.
Whereas the scene in the Indian MBA schools are concerned, the CAT/XAT/GMAT score and some "work experience" will do you good in admission. That is a safe bet for me.
I dont want to just start doing "community initiatives" now just to add spice to my application, as I am not truly involved in it.
The above doesnot mean that I am a complete sucker as a MBA aspirant. My MBA expectations are more to do with being able to perform my current role (Business Analyst for a Fortune 10 company) better. With some humility, I can tell you that I have received the "Best employee" award everywhere I have worked. So, I am not a dumbass but only drag is I am not "well rounded".
That is my story so far... Any comments?

Claptonfan.
Well you can alwasy beefup the extra curricular activities. It might just take U a month to get enough things to write. What they are looking for is leadership through exta currciluars. Does Ur company have a volleyball team ,if not start it off(broadcast mail asking for players). and as U are starting it for some time U will eb the captain till U find someone more qualified than U.
This volleyball thingy will fill up -5 lines int he extracurrciluar section.

-Amit

hi guys
i gave my gmat this year and got a score of 730
i have 3yrs part time and one year full time work ex in my family business.

i tried applying to the top bschools and most of them told to come back with more work experience.

However Instituto de Empressa, Spain which is ranked 12 th as per Financial Times Rankings, showed interest and after due consideration have granted me admission.

In the meantime though, i took my admission into Narsee Monjee Mumbai, and ahve paid 2.5 lacs for the same, most of which is irrefundable.

I plan to settle in India and join my family business later, funds are not a problem
Please suggest

Anish 9810294884